18th August 2012 – I had a quick visit at the yard in Rupelmonde.
Category: MS Varta
12th August 2012 – Just like five years ago, the Varta goes to the same yard as the Watergeus. We left early in Merelbeke and went to Rupelmonde. The engine was in a good shape and we had a lovely journey.
20th February 2010 – There was a construction on deck. We have never fully known why it was build. Therefore we removed it today.
5th December 2007 – A friend of mine wanted to try some hatches on her barge to see if it would work out. I knew before I started they were fine, but she wanted to try it anyway. A barge with hatches always looks nicer then one without…
21st October 2006 – I’m busy on my own ship, but decided to help for a day on the Varta. The survey was done a few days ago and while the yard was welding, I cleaned the hull with a grinder.
13th October 2006 – Together with my neighbour we would bring the ship to the yard. Several things went wrong. My neighbour had to unload a cement ship, so we lost some time. During the journey with the Varta, the engine wasn’t functioning as it should. We missed the opening hours of the bridge and had to wait. We were still in time to be dry-docked and had a good party in the evening with all the neighbours.
18th September 2004 – There was a special neighbour alongside.
27th May 2004 – The problem of working in a ship is often the space. You are buying tools and materials for the job, but where to store them. We cleaned the hold to get a better view of the current situation.
1st May 2004 – I just continued cleaning the engine room, removing stuff that was no longer needed.
28th February 2004 – The idea to work aboard was quickly cancelled when it started snowing. I started walking around at the Visserij taking pictures.
29th December 2003 – I started cleaning the engine room aboard the Varta. It is a nice looking ship, but the amount of dirt in the bilges is enormous…
6th November 2003 – I went to Ghent and paid a visit to the Varta. There was another spits barge moored alongside.
26th August 2003 – The plan was to move the Varta to Ghent. The Varta was a spits barge which had been dry-docked at the IDP yard in Ostend. We left the yard and at the end of the dock, the engine wasn’t cooling. We couldn’t stay since the lock just opened and moved on. While in the harbour, the engine started smelling badly. We made it through the big lock into the Houtdok. We started dismantling the cooling system of the engine and figured out the internal cooling unit was blocked by dirt.
At the end of the evening we had to leave the harbour and moved the ship, in the dark, without navigation lights to the canal Ostend-Ghent. The rest of the journey will be for another time.
